New Look and a Ten-Minute Lunch Recipe

Posted Jan 20 2010 10:08am

If you are in google reader, pop on over and check out the new and improved One Frugal Foodie, courtesy of The Blog Fairy! What do you all think? Personally, my eyes are loving the slightly bigger font. I still have some updates to do with the widgets and such, but overall I am very happy with it. I am also going to add a links page, so please let me know if I don’t have your blog in my blogroll. I will be updating!

Things have been insanely busy lately as you may have guessed from my very slow posting. And to be quite honest, I haven’t had much time for creating, or at least documenting, new recipes. My husband and I have been in throw-it-together mode. The results have beeen delicious (a dairy-free/gluten-free eggplant lasagna that I created and a spicy mushroom pepper pork stir fry courtesy of my husband), but alas, they really were using up the fridge meals that I just didn’t have the energy to measure and write down. I will see if we can’t repeat those when things settle down though.

But in the spirit of things, I thought I would share one of my quick lunch meals. It is truly a speedy endeavor, flavorful, and quite versatile. The recipe, as I have made it numerous times for myself and a ravenous husband, is below. However, I tend to fiddle with the seasoning amounts often, so feel free to adjust to your own tastes.

I am planning on attempting a vegetarian / vegan version of it using lightly smashed chickpeas and a sheet of nori seaweed (cut into small pieces) in place of the tuna. Nori seems to have that great “from the sea” taste and I thought it might compliment chickpeas/garbanzo beans well.

Though I find this version quite tasty, I would love to hear ideas from you. Do you have any suggestions for modifying it to create a new dish or flavor?

Ten-Minute Tuna Couscous

This recipe is Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Nut-Free, and optionally Egg-Free (use that vegan mayo – I am a fan of Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise). See below for a Gluten-Free option, and the post above for my idea on making this Vegan / Vegetarian.

½ Cup Uncooked Whole Wheat Couscous

1 Cup Frozen Peas, thawed

1 Can Tuna, drained (I use solid white in olive oil, and save the oil for another use, or I even use some of the oil in place of the mayo on occasion)

1-1/2 Tablespoons Mayonnaise (regular, light, or vegan – I have tried them all)

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

3/8 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Dill

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/8 Teaspoon Sugar (or sweetener of your choice)

1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Water

Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste (optional)

Cook the couscous according to the package directions. This literally takes just 5 minutes.

While that is cooking, I run the peas under some warm water to quickly thaw them (this isn’t a plan ahead kind of meal!).

Then, I combine the mayo, mustard, onion powder, dill, salt, sugar, lemon juice, and water in a small dish.

Take the lid off of the couscous, give it a quick fluff with a fork, and stir in the peas and mayo mixture. Using your fork, crumble the tuna in and give everything another stir to combine. Dish up into two bowls and serve!

Gluten-Free Option: I haven’t tried it as of yet, but Lundberg has a new brown rice couscous. It looks like it will make this a 15-minute dish instead of ten, but will probably yield excellent results.